Soul Keeper
by Miss JM Barrie
Summary: 7th year, after the final battle. Full of angst, fluff, death, wrong pairings, and the emergence of truth long thought dead. RR please!
1. Chapter 1: Hero and Beloved Friend

Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling and Warner Brothers. I own no credit for any characters, places, etc. involved, but the story and plot are my own.  
  
Dark smog encircled the torn and battered bodies of defeated wizards, witches, and Death Eaters. There was no moon and the stars were cold and provided little light. Suddenly, a shot of red light broke the silence with an earth shattering crash, followed by a young woman's scream. "HARRY!!!!" Hermione Granger, lying bleeding on the ground, shielded her eyes from the blinding explosion that emitted from both wands. Then, suddenly, there was silence. Once the blazing light had faded, Hermione looked around frantically in the dark where Harry had been standing only moments ago, facing down the Dark Lord Voldemort. Yet there wasn't a trace of either wizard anywhere. Hermione's heart raced as tears began to cascade down her cheeks. She screamed out again, "Harry! Harry, answer me! Harry!!" As panic began to consume her, Hermione forced herself to her feet. Her body ached terribly from being thrown to the ground, and her vision blurred from the massive headache that throbbed within her head. She limped hurriedly back to the place she had last seen Harry at the bottom of the hill. It was deathly silent. Hermione didn't know if there were any Death Eaters left to come kill her, or if Voldemort himself was about to arrive. All she knew was that she didn't care. "HARRY!" she screamed again in hysterical agony, as a haunting feeling crept into her heart and mind. "No, Harry's here," she thought. She shut her eyes tightly and squezed her head tightly with her hands to shut out the terrible thoughts that were creeping into her mind. "He's here somewhere......" "No," she mumbled, "no...nononono....NO!!" she heartbreakingly cried and fell to her knees in vehement sbos. Her head shot up like a cat when she heard a distant voice call,  
  
"Hermione!" But it wasn't Harry who was racing down the hill to her.  
  
"Are you all right?!" Ron Weasley stammered out of breath once he reached her. His face was smoken and ashy. An immense gash curled from the side of his head as blood trickled down his face, and one eye was blackened. He knelt down beside Hermione as she wrapped her arms around him and sobbed into his shoulder,  
  
"He's gone! Oh, Ron, he killed him! Voldemort killed Harry!" All of Ron's body went numb and he found he couldn't breathe. His heart pounded against Hermione's chest, as if it wanted to jump out of Ron's chest. His entire body went numb, and he could barely feel his arms reach around Hermione to embrace her. He literally could not breathe. Tears came flowing down as one sharp breathe came to his lungs and he cried into the night,  
  
"I'LL KILL HIM!! I AM GOING TO KILL THEM ALL!!!" Then the two fell into bitter sobs. Both knew there was no one left for Ron's revenge. Every last Death Eater had been slain. Along with them, were hundreds of others, muggle and magic folk alike.   
  
Looking down at the two heartbroken friends from the top of the grassy knolled hill were those from the Order who still remained: Remus Lupin, Arthur Weasley, Molly Weasley, Ginny Weasley, and Albus Dumbledore. Carnage and loss of life were everywhere, but at that moment, all were mourning the loss of the greatest wizard of them all. Molly and Ginny were cradled in Arthur's arms, sobbing, as silent tears fell down the faces of the wizards among. They simply stared at Ron and Hermione, who continued to cling to one another.  
  
"It's all my fault," Dumbledore muttered, "I wasn't there to stop him."  
  
"You knew of the prophesy, we all were aware of the risks involved. There would have been nothing you could have done. Nor any of us," Luping said flatly. "We all thought for sure that it would work. Wanted to believe it would work." There was a long pause before Arthur said,  
  
"We failed. We failed them both." Dumbledore cast a look to the mourning friends at the bottom of the hill and said reverently,  
  
"It was HE who was the greatest sorcerer in the world."  
  
"Harry James Potter will always be The Boy Who Lived as long as we....his family....remember him...."echoed Dumbledore's words in Hermione's head. The funeral service had been one of massive perportion. Many came to mourn the loss of their loved ones. Among Harry's loss were Fred and George Weasley, Bill Weasley, Charlie Weasley, and other members of The Order like Alastor Moody, Minerva McGonagall, Tonks, and so many more. They all had died nobly and honorably in defeating Voldemort and his darkness. Hermione didn't see why it was fair that Voldemort had to have Harry as well.   
  
The crowds had long since dispersed and now Ron and Hermione were sitting on the snow fleeced covered ground in front of Harry's headstone. He had had no viewing, or open casket, as there was no body which had been found. Neither Ron nor Hermione had eaten or slept in three days, but merely spent time in the quiet, holding each other and weeping. The icy, bitter breeze blew against their tear stained cheeks. Hermione emmitted a visible shiver, which caused Ron to wrap his arm around her and snuggle close to help keep her warm. Hermione pulled her scarf up from her jacket to wrap closer around her mouth. Ron's coat crinkly quietly as he rubbed his mitten over Hermione's upper arm. Hermione re-read the headstone for the millionth time: Harry James Potter Hero and Beloved Friend 1990-2007. As Hermione choked out another sob, Ron said quietly,  
  
"Do you remember in fifth year when Harry punched Malfoy across the mouth after that Quidditch match?" Hermione chuckled lightly.  
  
"Malfoy's lip was swollen for weeks," she replied with a smile, "and he spoke with that histarical lisp for days." As Ron cracked a small laugh she added, "And that time you and Harry replaced Percy's hair gel with Salamander Sap?" Ron made an icky face at the memory, but laughed all the same.  
  
"Percy looked like he had a dead farrett on his head, but it was worth all the trouble we went through. He wasn't allowed to go to work until the smell of it went away." Their laughter rose and then slowly died before Hermione said quietly,  
  
"How about the day Sirius's name was cleared."  
  
"Yeah," Ron muttered.  
  
"I had never seen him like that," Hermione continued. "All he went through at that moment, everything....he must have been feeling.....we can't know Ron. He was just so completely...." Unable to hold back another sob fest, Hermione's hands shot up to her face. Ron pulled her into a tight hug. "There was nothing I could do," Hermione moaned, "it just happened too fast."  
  
"No one blames you, Hermione," Ron cooed, stroking her head.  
  
"We were just standing there, then something hit me from behind and we flew.....I could hear him calling my name, but I couldn't move....next thing I knew I had regained myself and I saw...."she broke off as the memory of the blinding red light consumed her mind again. She shot herself up from Ron's chest and shook her head, trying to rid her mind of the memory. Hermione opened her eyes to see Ron staring at her. His blue, bloodshot eyes were looking into her with a a vat of tortuous pain. Ron murmered quietly,  
  
"He was my best friend, Hermione. I'll never get over this." Hermione didn't break their gaze as she repiled,  
  
"I won't be able to either. None of us will." Without knowing why, Ron leaned in for Hermione's lips. Despite a voice in her head telling her to pull away, Hermione did not as they met in a sorrowful kiss.  
  
A/N: Please, this really IS a Harry/Hermione fic....give it time....it's VERY HEARTBREAKING for me to write, but I think it's going to be quite a story. Be patient with it, and keep reading. Thanks! 


	2. Chapter 2: Behind the Veil

"Harry? Harry, is that you? Wake up!" The voice seemed to echo from somewhere far away in Harry's head, which was throbbing quite loudly at the moment. As he slowly cracked open his eyes, a small stream of light silhouetted the figure of a man that was leaning over Harry's body. A man with long, dark hair, and hallowed, sunken eyes. Harry's eyes shot open as he put a recognizable face to that haunting voice.  
  
"SIRIUS!" Harry cried happily, and tried to throw his arms around Sirius's neck, immediately realising this wasn't going to happen. As he attempted to sit up, a rush of pain swept over his body, and he could feel the dank, cold ground underneath him. Sirius rested a gentle hand on Harry's shoulder and shushed him lightly.  
  
"Lye still, Harry," Sirius said as he rubbed Harry's shoulder, gingerly. "You hit the ground pretty hard and the effects of whatever spell hit you," he thumbed the corner of Harry's tattered robes, "hasn't worn off just yet I would imagine. I almost thought I was seeing things when I saw you fall through the veil. What happened?" Harry shook his head groggily. His hand floated aimlessly by the side of his head as he tried to process the spew of odd sentences Sirius had just thrown at him.  
  
"Woah, woah, wait. I fell through…..what?!" Harry spluttered.  
  
"The veil of enchantments, Harry." Sirius gazed about the eerie location with glazed eyes. "A place where you aren't dead, but not entirely living It's a place where YOU shouldn't be…." Harry eased his upper body up with the back of his hands. He couldn't think lying down.  
  
"The same veil I saw you--"  
  
"Yes," Sirius broke in. Harry surveyed this new, ghostly place he had found himself in. The place looked a lot like the grounds of Hogwarts at night, only there was something very surreal and paranormal about its aura. There wasn't any moon or stars, but misty light was cast across the brown grass and trees so they were sickly illuminated. The area looked barren, and dead, but somehow, very alive. Harry and Sirius were sitting in what appeared to be a more open area of the land, with little brush. A faint, chilling breeze mussed Harry's hair. Harry looked up to his right and nearly jumped out of his skin.  
  
"WOAH!" he yelped, and backed up a few feet. Sirius turned his head in the direction Harry's horrified eyes had been gaping. An enormous dead skull with a snake slinking through it's mouth hung ominously in the air. The Death Mark: Voldemort's sign.  
  
Sirius let out a heavy sigh. "It will stay there until he is dead," he murmured.  
  
"No," Harry stammered, still trying to repress his shock, "he--he is dead…I kill him..I--"  
  
"What happened, Harry?" Sirius urged yet again. Harry swallowed hard and took a deep breath before he blurted out the whole story.  
  
"Voldemort and a hoard of his Death Eaters attacked Hogwarts at the commencement ceremony. There were wands going off everywhere….blood….muggles, witches, wizards, dying…everywhere….." As the memory came flooding back to Harry, he found that his chest was beginning to cave. He bit his lip to suppress the tears, but regretted this almost immediately as there was a fair sized gash on his bottom lip. Wincing, and dabbing a bit of the blood with his tongue, he continued. "I saw them all die. Ron and Hermione were with me the whole time, trying to act as a shield. I kept….trying to push them away….but they wouldn't budge….they wouldn't…." The tears wouldn't stay back any longer. Harry's thoughts had turned to his loyal, loving friends. He wondered now, horrifically, if he would ever see them again. "They wouldn't move, and Hermione had hexed a magical rope around her and my waist….she…." Harry sniffled and heaved another breathe, "….she said…."  
  
"You're not going ANYWHERE without me, Harry Potter!" Hermione called loudly as another explosion set off from a bright green light ten feet away. Harry stared at her in shock. Ron looked at her like she had gone completely mental, but began to utter the same curse before Hermione grabbed his arm. "No, Ron. No sense in all of us dying."  
  
"You're mad!" Ron cried.  
  
"He's right, have you completely lost your mind?!" Harry bellowed back to Hermione. He reached into his back pocket for his wand, but Hermione merely smiled.  
  
"You don't know the counter curse," she uttered, smartly. Another explosion caused a mound of dirt to fly towards them, and they quickly shielded their eyes. Hermione took this as a sign that it was time to move. She clutched Harry's arm, and as they ran off towards the main gate, called over her shoulder to Ron, "I'm going to get him out of here!"  
  
"Wait!" Ron yelled, and started after them until he heard a scream. A chill sputtered down his spine as he recognized who it was. "Ginny," he muttered, and saying a quick prayer that his friends would be all right, he ran off in the direction of his sister's cry for help.  
  
As Harry and Hermione charged down the hill, they looked for a way to the front entrance. When they reached the bottom, Harry slung his hand from Hermione's hold and barked,  
  
"What do you think you are bloody doing?!"  
  
"Saving your life!" she rounded at him. She as panting hard and sweat was shimmering across her forehead. There was a cut across her forehead that curved down into her eyebrow that was seething blood.  
  
"You're not suppose to Hermione," Harry yelled over the explosions and shrill screams of the battlements. A tortured look crept across his face. "You can't save me. You know the prophesy." Hermione could not think of a single time in her entire life she had been more frightened, not because of the onslaught which was ensuing around her, but from that petrified look in Harry's eyes. "Undo it, Hermione," Harry said loudly, a hint of panic in his voice. Hermione didn't move. Harry reached for his wand and started waving it at the roped that bound them. "Undo it!"  
  
"No!"  
  
"Undo it, now!"  
  
"NO!" His wand sputtered many different colors that did not unlatch a single string from the rope. Hermione snatched Harry's wand from his hand. "I'm not going to let you do that!"  
  
"What should you die with me?!" Harry flared. Her act of loyalty was penetrating his heart with pain. The last thing Harry wanted was for Voldemort to find the two of them together. "He'll kill you Hermione!"  
  
"I don't care!" Hermione stammered. Tears were coming into her eyes as she opened her mouth to say something more, "I--" when a shot of blue light from a distance smashed her in the back. She and Harry flew off the ground, and landed hard with a burst of yellow light shattering the ropes that held them bound. As Harry rolled over in pain, he saw Hermione wasn't moving. Her eyes were closed. A sickening feeling catapulted to the pit of Harry's stomach as he crawled toward her calling her name.  
  
"Harry," a snake-like voice hissed. Harry slowly craned his neck behind him and saw the cloaked and dark figure of Lord Voldemort behind him. His red slits for eyes were peering behind that black hood, and his wand was pointing right at Harry's heart. Cold, petrifying fear swept through Harry, as he clutched Hermione's wand from behind him. He did not move, but stared Voldemort right back in the face, determined not show him how afraid he was. Voldemort gurgled a laugh which Harry used to stand. He walked toward Voldemort slowly. "Brave hero…you should have known that you would not live a second time…."Harry whipped Hermione's wand from behind his back as they both cried,  
  
"AVADA KEDAVA!!!!"  
  
"It was the last thing I remember before I woke up here," Harry said to Sirius. Then taking a moment to pause added, "But if we both got hit with the Avada Kedava curse at the exact same time, then, well, why aren't I dead?" Sirius sighed and sat himself comfortably next to Harry, and cast his eyes out to the barren land.  
  
"It was such old magic," Sirius muttered with a dry, disbelieving smile. "I can't believe it worked…"  
  
"What's going on, Sirius?" Harry demanded. "I think I have a right to know." Sirius gazed deep into Harry's green eyes.  
  
"Before you began your fifth year at Hogwarts," he began, "Dumbledore found out that the magic which had been protecting you all these years would soon be spent. We didn't know at the time, that a certain young witch was listening at the door." Sirius laughed as a confused look crept over Harry's face. Sirius continued, "We only knew of one other way to renew the spell. A very…VERY dangerous way. A spell which had to be performed by the person who loved you more than anything, and anyone. There was of course only one person, and well, she knew what was at stake. Clever witch knew the consequences."  
  
"You performed a spell on me without my consent?!" Harry snapped. Sirius's voice grew slightly with indignation.  
  
"As long as this person lived, then so would you. She did it voluntarily, but we didn't know if she would survive after it was done. We all loved you Harry, but we knew that Hermione was the only one who could perform the spell." Harry was struck dumb. "She couldn't tell anyone Harry," said Sirius rising and walking away a bit, "especially you. Can you imagine how much that must have hurt her? Hermione became your Soul Keeper, Harry." Sirius turned back to look at Harry, still on the ground, unable to speak. "She drank a potion that Snape mixed up for her every night for almost two weeks. The…..screams….that came from her room…"Harry felt as though the wind had just been knocked from him.  
  
"Screams….?" he whispered, barely making a sound.  
  
"There were so many times at night as Molly watched over her that we were sure she would die. But she kept insisting. I begged her to let ME do it, but she threatened to disclose to you our entire idea if we tried to stop her. Plus it was too late, the potion was already in her bloodstream. To stop it could have been more lethal than letting her continue. So many nights, she was in so much pain as the potion drained her of her energy…." Harry shot up off his feet and charged at Sirius, pounding his fists against Sirius's chest, and shrieking,  
  
"WHY DID YOU LET HER DO THAT FOR ME?! YOU KNOW I WOULDN'T HAVE LET HER!!! WHY?! WHY?! WH---"Harry became suddenly light headed, and felt as though he would black out as the brief fury subsided from him. His knees collapsed and he fell into Sirius's arms.  
  
"Do you think we had any other choice," Sirius said as he eased Harry back down to the ground. "Hermione knew, and don't you thin she would have brewed the potion herself if she had to, behind our backs? It was a good thing we knew she had overheard so that we could at least be there with her if something went wrong. That's why we let Hermione do it, or did you miss that part? She loved you more than any of us." Harry smiled slightly at the last sentence.  
  
"Hermione….loves me…?" he muttered softly. Sirius nodded with a smile.  
  
"The spell must have also gotten transfixed into her wand as well. As a result, when you tried to kill Lord Voldemort and he you, it backfired, landing you here somehow." Harry then heard a small hissing sound coming from behind him. He raised an eyebrow in curiosity, and shook his head to make sure he knew what he was hearing. "But he's not dead," came a voice from behind Harry. From Sirius, but quite unlike….Harry's head snapped around to Sirius in fear. Only Sirius's kind, dark eyes had turned into small, red slits. Harry scrambled backwards as fast as he could from the cloaked figure that now stood before him. He could feel his heart pounding in his ears. Voldemort laughed as Harry as Harry searched his robes. "Don't waste your time, boy. You won't find a wand anywhere." Harry was heaving heavily. No wand? What was he supposed to do now?! "The fools. They didn't think I would find out about your girlfriend's petty sacrifice, did they? Well, it helps to have informants on the side of the light!" Harry's face squenched up in putrid hatred as he knew immediately who he was talking about.  
  
"Snape," he snorted lowly.  
  
"Know this Harry, all her suffering will have been for nothing. Now that I know, she will not live to see another day. Her love for you will be the thing that seals her tortuous, painful end!" Voldemort laughed as he soared up to a dark opening in the sky. Harry's angry scream followed him as he disappeared through the overhead veil. 


	3. Chapter 3: Begging for Vengence

Hermione's eyes shot open with a start after a few seconds had passed. She pulled her lips from Ron's, and noted the embarrassed smile that Ron was starting to emit. Hermione felt her cheeks flush red, but not for the reason Ron was hoping they were. She turned her head from him and mumbled, "I shouldn't have let you do that, Ron." Indeed this was not at all the reaction Ron had been expecting, and the smile quickly left his face.   
  
"Didn't you like it?" Ron retorted. He had assumed it's something she wanted him to do. Hermione sighed, and turned to him nervously. Ron got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Maybe it wasn't," he thought to himself.  
  
"It was nice, but--"  
  
"Just 'nice'?!" Ron shot as he stood. Feeling both angry and embarrassed, he walked over to a nearby willow tree, and leaned against it, keeping his back purposefully to Hermione. He crossed his arms to try to leviate the sickening feeling which was forming in his gut. Hermione walked up behind him, trying to contain her annoyance.  
  
"I don't think I kissed you for the same reasons you kissed me," she said very matter of factly. Ron rounded on her, his ears turning crimson.  
  
"What were your reasons then?" he prodded. "I just assumed that you felt about me, the way I--the way…." Hermione tried to chose her words very carefully.  
  
"Ron, I don't want to hurt your feelings--"  
  
"Just, you know what, just," he shook his head in frustration, "…..don't….just don't," Ron finished for her. Hermione took a few more steps closer to him. She knew this conversation had been long in coming, but she didn't think she had the gumption to attack it now.  
  
"I kissed you back, Ron, because I do care for you, and I'm breaking inside. I needed that warmth, and it was quite selfish of me to take that from you--"  
  
"Understatement of the century!" barked Ron. Hermione rolled her eyes but continued.  
  
"I never told you I knew you had, well…feelings…for me, because I…"she took his hand. "I do love you Ron, but just not in that way." Ron glanced up at her. He didn't know what to say or how to feel. Who could at a time like this? "I have always been in love with someone, but now, he'll never know." Ron's mouth dropped.  
  
"Harry?!" he whispered. Hermione nodded meekly. Nor Ron really couldn't think of anything to do or say. He let go of Hermione's hand, and turned to walk away, but then he turned back on Hermione with a vicious attack.  
  
"You let me go on all this time, then?!"  
  
"I never once indicated to you that--"  
  
"Bull, Hermione!" Ron bellowed. He couldn't take much more of this. He was fuming inside. First Harry's murdered now this!  
  
"See Ron?!" Hermione said throwing up her hands. "See?! THIS is exactly what we would do day in and day out, twenty-four seven!"  
  
"How do you know? You never wanted to try!"  
  
"Because I knew this is exactly how things would be!" she said, her vocal strain now matching Ron's. "I never meant to fall in love with Harry, Ron! You can't help who you fall in love with, and if it makes you FEEL any better, he'll never know now, will he?!?!" There was a tense silence as the two glared at each other. After a moment, Ron turned from her, and slumped to the ground, wrapping his knees close to him to sheild against the snowing winds. "I truly never wanted to hurt you," she thought to herself. Cautiously, Hermione walked to his side and sat next to him. Tears were forming in her eyes.  
  
"Merlin, I am so SICK of crying," she said as she wiped the wetness from her cheeks, forcing a small laugh. Ron's face twitched timidly, as he looked at her, and for the first time in his life said,  
  
"I'm sorry, Hermione." Hermione smiled and looked back at him.   
  
"You've never--"  
  
"Yeah, I know," he mumbled, and turned his gaze back over the hillside. The sun was setting fast on the day, and what seemed like the rest of Ron's life. He breathed a very burdened sigh as he said, "How do we move on from any of this?" He squeezed his knees in tighter, took in another tight breathed and hissed through his teeth, "Who cares that You-Know-Who- --"  
  
"Voldemort, Ron, don't give him any sort of reverent, fearful acknowledgment." Ron's fists clenched as his jaw tightened.  
  
"That HE's dead. Harry is GONE." Ron started to flare. He stood and shouted off to the setting sun, "WHY DID YOU HAVE TO KILL HIM HARRY!!" Hermione looked up at Ron, too shocked to say anything. "IF YOU WERE GOING TO DIE, WHY DIDN'T YOU LEAVE HIM FOR ME!!" Hermione was completely dumbfounded, and her heart broke to see Ron this…..vulnerably hating.  
  
"He's gone barmy," she thought, but knew her heart was crying the exact same things. Ron trudged down the small hill and pulled out his wand. He spun around in a circle, arms outstretched head to the sky, calling out to the sky,  
  
"VOLDEMORT!" He now stopped, but still cast his gaze for the heavens. Tears were streaming down his face. "WHERE ARE YOU, YOU SICK, PSYCHO MUDBLOOD FREAK!! WHERE THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU!?!?!"  
  
"Ron!" cried Hermione, shooting to her feet. "Don't EVER say that word!"  
  
Ignoring her, Ron continued to scream, "COME GET ME TO VOLDEMORT!! I'M RIGHT HERE!! COME GET ME TOO!!" His only answer was the howling winter chill, and rustling leaved that tumbled through the graveyard. Hermione couldn't take anymore. She charged down to Ron, clenched him into her arms as he bawled, "KILL ME TOO!!"  
  
"Stop it!" commanded Hermione shrilly. She was scaring him. "Stop it Ron, stop it!"  
  
"YOU KILLED HIM!! YOU MURDERED HIM!!"  
  
"RON!"  
  
"KILL ME TOO!!!"  
  
"With pleasure," came a hissing voice from behind the willow tree.  
  
A/N: I am aware that this chapter is short, but there's a reason, so that the NEXT chapter isn't already longer than it's going to be. A lot of things have to get explained, and I guarantee some major "squee-age" for the H/Hr fans in the next chapter. See, there was a method in that shudders R/Hr kiss shudders again It had to be proven WRONG! 


	4. Chapter 4: The Golden Beacon

A/N: This is the next to last chapter in this story. If you're confused about anything, well, as always, things come out senseable in the end......thanks for all the great reviews, and keep reading. Of all my stories, I am most proud of this one, and I eagerly await all of your responses to see how you liked this one. I hope you are all pleased. Cheers!  
  
The same piercing fear which had crept over Hermione the night Harry died came back to her in a sudden flash. It made her quiver from the top of her head to the bottom of her toes. She knew who lurked behind the tree. Her breath became short and shallow, but gradually it began to speed up. Hatred for this thing was beginning to take over her fear; this this that killed Harry. Ron was staring forward, mouth open, but his eyes were flaring with the same putrid loathing. Almost by subconscious impulse, Hermione pulled her wand slowly from her coat. She reached into Ron's jacket pocket and removed his wand before spinning around to see this monster vividly for the first time. She thrust her wand in Voldemort's direction, but wasn't in time. "CRUCIO!" bellowed Voldemort as a shot of light emitted from his wand. Snapping out of his stupor, Ron pulled Hermione into him and whirled them both around. He screamed out in agony as the force of the blow shattered his back with the pain of a thousand nails.  
  
"RON!" Hermione cried, as Ron's grip slid down her shoulders and released her as he sank to the ground. He was wringing, shaking, and howling the most horrific screams. Hermione knelt down to his side, but felt helpless as there was nothing she knew to do to ease this curse. So she reasoned to cradle him in her arms as Voldemort slinked towards them. As he approached, Hermione glared up at the cloaked Dark Lord through deathly, bloodshot eyes which were now beginning to well in tears at the sound of Ron's torture. Tears of anguish were running down Ron's cheeks as he whimpered into her Hermione's …" He sucked in another painful throb through gritted teeth, as Hermione whispered,  
  
"Not a chance." Ron clenched at Hermione's jacket, and she held him tighter.  
  
"I have no regret in killing the boy for you," Voldemort hissed as he neared her. "It's up to you." Ron was heaving as though he were in the midst of a fit. Hermione's heart ached at hearing him moan, but she was not going to show her fear to this dark creature. Her blood was racing, as she knew what to do. Ron knew that look and it petrified him. He knew she was about to attempt something stupid.  
  
"No, Hermione," he pleaded. "Run, let me die and run!" he gasped. Hermione smiled at him, and ran a mitten smoothly over his cheek. Too weak to fight her relinquish of his body, Ron watched Hermione rise to stare down this vile creature. Her knees were shaking, but her boiling blood kept her on her feet. The two were now merely inches away. Voldemort's thin slit of a mouth curled.  
  
"Not afraid to die, you foolish Mudblood witch?" he seethed.  
  
"Terrified," she stammered. "But it will be a consolation to know that you are coming with me." The gleeful smirk faded from Voldemort's face as Hermione pointed Ron's wand at his heart as the two screamed simultaneously,  
  
"AVADA KEDAVA!" Through the forcefully blinding red light that emitted from the two wands, Hermione felt a force pull her from the pit of her stomach, as though she were traveling by portkey. The graveyard grounds faded away as Hermione heard Ron cry out her name. She was soaring through a blackened tunnel, hardly aware of anything that was going on as her head spun in a million different directions. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think, she was just falling. With a loud crack, she flew down faster and faster toward a blurred vision of someone below her. As she landed in her rescuers arms, she heard a deep voice fade away with her consciousness, "Hermione….Hermione….."  
  
"C'mon Hermione, wake up. Hermione, please wake up," a voice echoed in Hermione's head. Barely able to comprehend what was going on, she shook of the eerie familiarity of the voice. There was no way the voice coule belong to the one she was hoping. He was dead. Slowly, Hermione opened her eyes, as a blurry image of a bushy haired young man with glasses was leaning over her, stroking her forehead. She could make out a faint smile upon on the stranger's face that showed a sign of relief. "You're all right," the blurring image said with an exhaled breath. He took her upper body in his arms and clenched her tightly.  
  
Reluctantly, she placed her hands on the clandescent, torn, black school robes. Her vision was coming back to her steadily faster now, and she could make out the same framed shoulders she had embraced so many times over the years. The ones that belonged to a dead boy. "Ha--Harry?" she moaned. Harry released pulled her down so that her shoulders were now resting comfortably on one of his knees. With a slight gasp of shock, she gazed into his peircing emerald eyes that his behind the black wired glasses, and felt quite grateful she was on the ground. Had she been standing she would have surely fainted again. Harry broke into a grin, and nodded his head fervently.  
  
"Yeah, yeah it's me Hermione," Harry said happily. He couldn't believe this whole scene was happening. He had no idea why, but all he knew was that it felt amazing to have his best friend in his arms like this. Hermione struggled for the words, but at last they came.  
  
"But...you...I...saw....we all thought you were--" Harry clenched her hand tightly in his as he finished for her.  
  
"No, I'm not dead. Neither are you." Hermione's hand was filled with the warmth of his touch. This entire situation defied everything Hermione knew about magic, but for once in her life, she was thirlled to be so very wrong. She threw her arms around Harry's neck again, as tears of happiness began to fill her eyes.  
  
"I can't believe it, you're alive!" she said, joyously. "I thought that when Voldemort hit you with that light.....and then....when I performed that curse...I--I didn't know I had it in me to do that." Harry smiled to himself as he replied,  
  
"You didn't, Hermione. I don't know why, but somehow neither of us did, and we ended up here." He released her as they both looked around the vacant valley yet again. "Wherever here is," he added. The next few words Hermione would never forget. He looked her square in the eyes and uttered, "The spell worked, but I still wish you hadn't gone through with it." Hermione flushed pretty shades of pink and then an embarrased white, as she found the strength to pull from Harry's arms. She didn't even have to ask what he was talking about. As always, she just knew.  
  
"You know then?" Hermione squeaked, now taking great care to avoid those dazzling eyes. "How did you find out?" Harry didn't feel like explaining. The guilt that was welling up inside him was too strong.  
  
"At first, I swore that if I ever saw you again, I would pitch a fit about how incredibly stupid you were to try something that dangerous. I certainly wasn't worth it." Hermione felt her heart jump into her throat at the curtness in Harry's voice. The sting quickly melted, as he turned from her, and gazed out over the barreness beside them. He wrapped his arms tightly around his knees as he sat there and allowed the dry breeze to blow through his hair. "But then it made me sick," he continued, "to know you would do that for me. To know that you......you....loved...me that much." Hermione could feel the awkwardness arousing in his voice and it bit at her like an annoying fire ant. "What's more, I was afraid. Afraid that I would never get out of here so I could tell you---" Harry broke off to suck in a deep breath so the words could come easier. "I'm sorry for being such a blind idiot all these years, Hermione. I couldn't see anything, ever, past my own selfish obessessions of trying to prove myself to the entire world, when that wasn't even necessary. Through it all, you were right there, and, it was always the world that I relied on. You would have never let me down, you had, would, and did, give up everything for me." Harry closed his eyes as he finished, "And I have always loved you for it." There was a moment's pause, before Hermione's laughter broke the silence, and flung backwards onto a patch of decaying grass. Harry was about to become furiously angry with her for laughing at him before she said,  
  
"I get it, I get it. So, when do we get to the part where I wake up?" She covered her face with her hands to suppress her tiny giggles. "This has been the most VIVID dream--"  
  
"You're not dreaming!" Harry cried, almost desperately, as he tore Hermione's hands away from her now astonished face. A look of shock overtook Harry at realizing his own actions, making him feel clumsily out of place. That and the fact that two-thirds of his body was now pressing against Hermione gently. Gratefully it was his upper half, but on the other hand......Not even the sharpest knife could have cut through the peircing stares that Hermione and Harry exchanged. Finally, Hermione spoke,  
  
"No....no, I'm not. I just can't believe...I've waited to hear you say those thing fo so long. I thought you were dead." Tears came to her eyes, as she allowed her hands to travel up Harry's arms and around his neck. Harry was doing all he could to hold his position abover Hermione without crushing her. A feat that he was starting to lose as his hands suddenly ached to hold her like he never had before. "I was beginning to doubt everything I had ever believed in." Hermione's hands continued their journey up Harry's arms to his bushy strands of hair. Then one hand brushed along his cheeks with the tips of her fingertips. "But I will never doubt anything again." Harry smiled weakly.  
  
"I am a very dangerous person to love, Hermione." Hermione shook her head as she then leaned in for his lips.  
  
"I think we will both be agreed where we're concerned..." their lips were now only millimeters apart as Hermione whispered, "....danger is something we can handle." Their lips met in a warm, savoring kiss. Harry caved his arms around Hermione, forgetting the hold he was trying to maintain abover her, as their kiss deepened. Hermione could feel Harry's heart pounding against her chest, as a wave of joy spwet over the two of them so strongly that both were certain they would die right there.  
  
Just then, a sinister, serpent laugh from behind them caused their romantic moment to stop in mid-passion. Harry opened his eyes slowly and looked to his right as his lips unlocked from Hermione's. Hermione turend her head in the same direction as his, and her heart stopped as they bother faced Lord Voldemort yet again.  
  
"This maniac has an unhealthy obsession with trying to kill me," Harry thought. His hand ran down the right side of Hermione's body that was concealed from Voldemort's view. "Where's your wand?" he muttered through clenched teeth, trying hard not to move his lips. Before Hermione could even answer, Harry had grabbed her, and rolled them dodgedly across the grass to avoid the light of an oncoming curse from Voldemort's wand. Harry curled right onto his feet like a looming cat, ducking low, keeping both eyes on the cloaked figure to try to guess his next move. Slowly, the Dark Lord was advancing on them both. Hermione still had her arms wrapped around Harry's neck, as they slowly stood, to maintain her balance. She was still very weak from her last encounter Voldemort.  
  
"You can't kill us Voldemort! You do know that!" Harry cried arrogantly. The evil fiend before them merely laughed, those little red eyes twinkling.   
  
"Foolish boy," he sneered. "maybe seperately you two are invinsible. Seperate and in a position where you both are safe, not to mention in controllable power. But behind this vewil, ONLY DARK MAGIC THRIVES!!" he shrieked malevolently, and pointed up to the now illuminate Dark Mark in the sky. Hermione screamed in terror as the blood drained from Harry's face. The thing was glowing horrifically, the epitome of a child's worst nightmares were encased in one singluar symbold. "Your pathetic love has no strength in this domain. It's how I got you both here. Your hearts are not black enough to kill me with a Death Curse, so it transported you beyond this veil to me when that pathetic Soul Keeping curse was performed. Such are the symptoms of side affects." Voldemort laughed as he continued, "And if you both had wands, and the flowing hatred enough to do so, one of you could have indeed killed me." This snake-like tone dropped as he seethed, "Such is the punishment of a valiant and true heart." His wand was now raised at the two of them, Hermione clenched onto Harry still tighter. "But since you are both chaste and unarmed, then well, it's most unfortunate for you that I have no remorse in fould play, and at long last, my power will FLOURISH!"  
  
This was it them. Hermione clutched Harry tightly around his waist. Harry's heart sank. There was nothing he could do now, and he felt like this was all his fault. Almost as though she were reading his mind yet again, Hermione whispered through a stiffled sob, "Don't you dare blame yourself." There was nothing either of them could do.   
  
"I love you, Hermione," Harry said meekly. Fear subsided between the two as Voldemort cried,  
  
"AVADA---"  
  
"I love you too, Harry."  
  
"---KEDAVA!!" As the red light shot from Voldemort's wand, the two held each other close and awaited their fate.  
  
It was then it happened. A intense glow began to emit from around Harry and Hermione. The two opened their eyes to find they were covered in it warm, protecting brilliance. Acting as a luminous shield, the stream of red light, ricocheted back toward their hooded nemesis, and up in the direction of the Dark Mark. "NO!!!" shrieked Voldemort in a high pitched voice as the shot of red light sliced through his center like a ray of bullets. Hermione and Harry stared through squinted and wondrous eyes as the evil creature's body wreathed and thrashed from the continual passage of the light which had faded from it's crimson red to the golden yellow that encompassed the pair. The Dark Mark in the sky was shattering downward like broken glass from a window as Lord Voldemort's shrill cries pierced the blanket valley. His head flew back as the yellow light blasted through the slits in his eyes. His arms sprayed out in a cross type fashion as the light passed through his finger tips. Then with one last cry, Voldemort's body splintered into trillions of dots of light. The Dark Mark had faded into nothingness. Dumbfounded by everything that had just occurred so unbelievably fast, Harry and Hermione looked at where Voldemort had once been and then questionably to one another. Still encased in the beacon of golden light, Hermione asked,  
  
"Is it over?" Harry smiled broadly and laughed.  
  
"I think it is. I think it's all finally over." Hermione returned his triumphant laughter as they two embraced happily. As Harry picked Hermione up and began twirling them around, he noticed that his feet were rising from the ground. Both of their heard shot down to look as they saw the light which had just acted as their protector was lifting them up towards the black opening they had both transcended through, who knows how long ago by this time. Hermione kept her arms firmly about Harry as she gasped,  
  
"What's happening?" Harry clung closer to her as they began to pick up speed.  
  
"We're going back!" he replied. "Hold on tight, I don't know exactly how this is going to work!" Hermione let out a high squeal as they rose upwards at earth shattering speed. They shot through the veil's opening like an exploding cork, and fell. Only this time it would be on familiar ground. 


End file.
